Samsara Paradise: Dream Weaver of Connections.

After a while, Jack the Cripple, the owner of the casino "Golden Dice," and Sister Hong, the madam of the brothel "Red Lantern," also appeared one after another, staging a similar scene.

"Vice Captain, these new recruits are still quite naive. We'll have to rely on you a lot from now on. The doors of 'Red Lantern' are always open for you and your capable men. The best girls and the finest wine will surely make the brothers feel comfortable..."

Leonard's behavior on these occasions perfectly fits the image of a "vice-captain" who rose to power through nepotism, indulged in pleasure, and used his position to collude with underground forces for profit.

His attitude towards Johnny the Rat was one of obvious contempt and exploitation, with his words implying a certain kind of "cooperation" and "profit sharing," while he adopted a conciliatory attitude towards the new recruits, suggesting that "follow me and you'll get what you deserve."

Most of the new recruits came from humble backgrounds and had never seen such a "generous" scene before.
Under the deafening noise and the constant onslaught of cheap alcohol, they were dizzy, their cheeks flushed, and their eyes glazed over.

Seeing Vice Captain Leonard's extravagant spending, a sense of awe and blind worship welled up in their hearts.

I just felt that this person was incredibly influential, and following him seemed like a sure way to make a bright future.

Only the viper watched all of this with indifference.

Leonard's behavior and the deliberate fawning of Johnny the Rat clearly outlined another side of the power structure beneath Bloodclaw Fortress in his eyes.

Lord Lin Yi has the overall situation under control, but specific affairs seem to be handled by Ruth Jack and Leonard. Leonard is clearly entangled with the underground forces and may even be doing some underhanded things behind the lord's back.

This potential conflict and discord between the "leader" and the "deputy leader" is precisely the gap he can exploit.

He let out a silent sneer, his opinion of Leonard plummeted, and his guard lowered slightly.

After three rounds of drinks, the atmosphere became more and more lively.

Johnny the Rat, Jack the Cripple, Sister Red, and others took the opportunity of taking turns toasting and chatting to quietly blend into the group of new recruits and become sworn brothers.

They chatted warmly, seemingly casually about their hometown, personal preferences, and even their dreams of castle life.

This seemingly intimate conversation was actually laced with extremely subtle probing.

When it was Viper's turn, Johnny the Rat patted him on the shoulder, reeking of alcohol: "Looks unfamiliar, huh? Where are you from? South? Hey, it doesn't matter, from now on we're brothers in arms. In Bloodclaw Keep, if you get into any trouble, don't hesitate to come to me. Lord Leonard is busy with important matters, I'll cover for you with these little things."

He leaned closer, lowered his voice, and said with a hint of sincerity, "But brother, let me remind you, keep your eyes open while working in the castle. Captain Ruth's side has very strict rules, and as for Lord Leonard's side... hehe, as long as you know the rules, you'll get plenty of benefits! Just don't choose the wrong side!"

The viper understood perfectly; this was confirmation of the discord he had observed.

A grateful yet somewhat apprehensive smile spread across his face as he nodded repeatedly: "Johnny is absolutely right. I'm new here, unfamiliar with the place and all the people, and I don't know anything. I'm clumsy and awkward. I'll have to rely on Johnny and the other brothers for guidance from now on, and I'm especially grateful to Lord Leonard for giving me a job."

The moment Johnny turned around, he nodded at Leonard. Sure enough, the scent on the other man was that of the traveling merchant who had been gathering information earlier.

The welcome banquet lasted until late at night. Most of the new recruits were drunk and staggered around like puddles of mud. In the end, they had to be dragged back to the barracks by a few relatively sober guards.

The viper also pretended to be drunk, his steps unsteady and staggering, his eyes glazed over, and he even deliberately bumped into the door frame, letting out a muffled murmur.

He lay in bed, listening to the snoring of his fellow recruits rising and falling, like a lurking viper, quietly waiting for its chance to arrive.

Late at night, it was Viper's squad's turn to be on night duty.

After the midnight shift change, he was assigned to patrol a relatively secluded corridor near the inner fort area.

When he returned to the barracks after completing a patrol, he found himself alone in the room, all of his comrades' bunks empty.

At this time today, everyone else has been temporarily reassigned to assist in handling an emergency that occurred at a farm outside the city—it is said that several hungry dire wolves attacked the livestock shed.

He was left behind because he happened to have a patrol mission inside the castle.

This brief "window of opportunity" is a godsend.

Viper quickly took off his conspicuous guard uniform and put on a set of ordinary servant's clothes that he had casually taken from the castle's laundry room.

He tousled his hair, dusted it off, and deliberately hunched his shoulders. Instantly, the image of an unremarkable, tired night shift servant appeared.

His targets were two people: Springhall Anne and Lin Yi.

Anne is a relatively low priority; eliminating her is to erase August's stain, but it is not the top priority tonight.

He first made his way to the basement of the castle, near the storage room, where Anne's alchemy laboratory was located.

At the end of the passage, a heavy oak door was tightly closed, with a few wisps of pale green light shining through the cracks, and the air was filled with a smell of herbs and sulfur.

The viper held its breath and listened intently.

He raised his hand and tapped the door three times lightly with his knuckles, the sound sounding somewhat abrupt in the quiet corridor.

no respond.

He knocked three more times with greater force, while lowering his voice and imitating the tone of an ordinary servant: "Miss Anne? Miss Anne? The kitchen asked me to bring over some late-night snacks."

Inside the door, all was still deathly silent.

Just as Viper's patience was about to run out and he was considering whether to try picking the lock, a voice finally came from inside the door. It was heavy with impatience and irritation at being disturbed, and sounded somewhat muffled through the thick door: "Get out! Didn't you see the sign on the door? Critical period of the experiment! Don't bother me even if the sky falls! If you knock again, I'll let you taste the 'silence powder'! Get out!"

The viper's fingers stopped on the cold door panel; there were clearly security measures in place inside the laboratory.

Forcibly entering would cause too much noise and be extremely risky, and could even trigger unknown alchemical traps.

He glanced at the tightly closed door with a sinister look and decisively gave up on the place.

Getting rid of Anne is important, but not the top priority tonight; we can't afford to lose sight of the bigger picture.

He quickly turned around, his gaze fixed on Lin Yi's study.

He skillfully avoided several guarded sentry posts and, taking advantage of the gaps between patrols, sneaked into the upper area of ​​the castle.

The kitchen was nearby, its lights off, with only the embers of the stove emitting a faint warmth.

The viper darted in, its gaze sweeping quickly across the area.

On the table was a plate that seemed to be a spare cold meal: a few slices of rough black bread, a piece of sliced ​​cold smoked meat, an apple with a slightly wrinkled skin, and next to it an open earthenware pot containing half a pot of water.

He picked up the tray, his movements as natural as an ordinary servant delivering food to his master who was returning home late.

He straightened the collar of his servant's uniform, took a deep breath, and, carrying the tray, walked steadily toward the corridor where Lin Yi's study was located.

At the end of the corridor, the oak door, a symbol of the core of power, was tightly closed, with warm candlelight shining through the cracks below.

The viper walked to the door and knocked again.

Beneath, bee, bee.

"Come in." Lin Yi's calm and composed voice came from inside the door.

The viper pushed open the door and entered.

Lin Yi did not sit there to handle official business as Viper had expected. Instead, he turned his back to the door and gazed out the window at Bloodclaw Fortress, which was shrouded in the deep night.

Viper took two steps forward with the tray in his hand. Just as he stepped over the threshold for the third time, a sharp gust of wind, carrying a murderous aura, suddenly erupted from the shadows behind the door on his right without warning.

The viper didn't even have time to see what it was before it felt a chill on the side of its neck.

A sharp short sword, gleaming with a cold, eerie blue light, was precisely positioned across his throat.

The blade pressed tightly against the skin, the icy touch was crystal clear, and with just a slight flick of the wielder's wrist, it could easily sever his trachea and arteries.

Viper's muscles tensed to their limit under the threat of death. He forcefully suppressed his body's instinctive urge to retaliate and retreat. Any unnecessary movement could become the reason for his opponent to kill him.

He remained frozen in place, like a sculpture, maintaining his forward-moving posture.

A mocking voice whispered in his ear, "Delivering food late at night? How loyal! But, Mr. Viper, my master doesn't have the habit of eating midnight snacks. This plate of pastries is probably delivered to the wrong place."

"Welcome to Bloodclaw Fortress."

Lin Yi clapped his hands lightly, the crisp sound standing out starkly in the silence.

As the applause subsided, a door disguised as a bookshelf on the inside of the study slid open silently.

Ruth Jack stepped forward first, having changed into a set of dark leather armor that allowed for easy movement. Behind him, Springhall Anne's languid and composed expression vanished, replaced by a complex look of triumphant satisfaction.

“From the moment you left the barracks and changed into those clothes you ‘borrowed’ from the laundry room, you’ve been in my sight.”

Viper's heart sank. He thought his stealth was flawless, but it turned out he had fallen into the other party's surveillance net from the very first step.

The other party not only understood his plan, but also knew his route and timing.

Anne didn't look at Leonard or Lin Yi; her gaze remained fixed on the viper, as if admiring an experimental subject that was about to be completed.

She extended her hand, which was covered with a thin leather glove, and held a small, exquisite crystal bottle in her palm.

The bottle contained a roughly mouthful of liquid, which was an eerie and vibrant orange-red color. In the glow of the fireplace in the study, it seemed as if countless tiny points of light were colliding inside.

She walked up to Lin Yi, handed him the crystal bottle, and said in a voice as sharp as icicles striking each other, "My lord, it's ready as you requested."

Lin Yi took the crystal bottle and walked over to the viper, who was being held firmly by Leonard, and handed the bottle to the viper's unavoidable gaze.

“Viper, you are a smart man. August must have paid you a hefty sum to send you here. But no amount of gold can buy back a life. Now, I’m giving you a choice.”

He gently shook the crystal bottle, causing the orange-red liquid inside to ripple. "Drink it, and you'll live. Refuse, and Leonard's sword will slit your throat, and your corpse will be thrown into Rift Valley to feed the wolverines. Choose."

Viper's Adam's apple bobbed violently as he stared at the orange-red vial, his mind racing.

He wasn't a suicide soldier; he served August purely because the latter offered the highest price.

An assassin's loyalty is always clearly priced, and the price of life is far higher than that of any employer.

"What...what is this?" Viper's voice was distorted by fear and the pressure of the blade.

"'Three-Ring Throat Lock,' Miss Springhall's masterpiece. It's not one poison, but three. The three are mixed in an extremely precise alchemical sequence, restraining each other to achieve a fragile balance. Inside your body, they'll be like three venomous snakes biting each other, suppressing each other to ensure that the toxicity doesn't erupt immediately, making you look like a normal person."

He paused, admiring the growing despair in the viper's eyes: "But this balance is extremely fragile. Once you try to detoxify yourself, or seek help from other alchemists—whether you successfully neutralize any one of the toxins, or even just weaken one of them—the remaining two poisons will lose their balance and erupt completely within your body at the same time."

"'Bone-Eating Vine' will dissolve your bones inch by inch in excruciating pain; 'Ember Scorpion' will ignite your blood, burning you from your internal organs; 'Shadow Jellyfish' will cause your brain to necrotize inch by inch while you are still conscious. The whole process will probably last... um, Annie?"

"Twelve to fifteen heartbeats. Enough to experience all the pain, but not enough to make you lose consciousness."

The study fell into a deathly silence, broken only by the crackling of the burning wood in the fireplace and the viper's heavy, suppressed breathing.

As August's tool, the viper knew all too well the horrors of alchemy.

He had some knowledge of alchemical principles and was well aware of the terrifying nature of this "combination poison".

This is not "poison" in the conventional sense. It uses the properties of poisons to counteract each other, forming a perfect closed loop dead end.

Aside from Annie, who personally prepared it, probably no one in this world can understand it.

August? That old viper may be very knowledgeable, but the chances of cracking this combination of potent toxins, which requires precise knowledge of the proportions, sequences, and control points of the three toxins, are extremely slim.

Forcing yourself to try will only hasten your death.

The instinct for survival instantly overwhelmed all wishful thinking and calculation.

The mission, the reward, and August's prestige all became worthless in the face of an inescapable threat of death.

The last trace of ferocity and resentment in the viper's eyes vanished completely, replaced by pure fear and a desire to survive.

"My lord! Spare me!" Viper's voice was choked with sobs, his body trembling violently with fear, almost collapsing. If it weren't for Leonard's sword supporting him, he would have already knelt down.

He strained to raise his head, revealing the most humble expression. "I'll drink! I'll do whatever you say! Please, give me a way out! What is Augustus anyway! From this day forward, I will only be loyal to you, my lord! I'll go through fire and water for you!"

He backed down incredibly quickly. As a top assassin, Viper was adept at assessing situations and knew that since Lin Yi hadn't killed him on the spot but instead used such control methods, he must have some ulterior motive.

As long as I can live, what's wrong with being a dog?
Lin Yi looked at the viper, who was weeping and snotting, and a hint of satisfaction flashed in his eyes.

Without the slightest hesitation, the viper pulled out the cork from the bottle, tilted its head back, and drank the liquid in one gulp!

The liquid slid down my throat, carrying a strange sweetness and a burning sensation, which then turned into a cold current that quickly spread to my limbs and bones.

With a flick of his wrist, Leonard retracted the short sword into its leather sheath at his waist.

The viper lost its support, its legs buckled, and it collapsed to its knees with a thud, its forehead even touching the cold floor.

"Very good." Lin Yi's voice regained a hint of warmth. "A wise person knows when to yield. Leonard, go and invite our distinguished guest over."

“Yes, sir!” Leonard grinned, glanced at the viper kneeling on the ground, and strode out of the study.

The wait wasn't long, but the atmosphere in the study remained heavy.

The viper knelt on the ground, not daring to get up.

Anne walked to the bookshelf and casually flipped through a thick alchemical book, but her eyes never left the viper out of the corner of her eye.

The door was pushed open again.

This time, it was the Second Prince, Alex, who entered.

When Alex's gaze swept over the kneeling viper, he showed no surprise, only a faint sense of disgust, as if he were looking at a filthy rat that had invaded the hall.

"Your Highness, Second Prince. It was truly unavoidable to disturb you so late at night. However, I believe Your Highness will find this trip worthwhile." Lin Yi straightened up, without any further pleasantries, and went straight to his desk, taking out a crystal bottle from the drawer that was slightly smaller than the one Annie had previously possessed.

The bottle contains a few milliliters of liquid, which is a pure and clear light blue color. There seem to be tiny ice crystals slowly settling inside, and it exudes a refreshing and cool aroma.

Lin Yi handed the crystal bottle to Alex: "A stable fusion of 'Frosty Heart Orchid Extract' and 'Permafrost Tundra Lichen Active Factor'. Take one drop daily, dissolved in warm water."

Alex's gaze was instantly drawn to the pale blue potion. The faint, cool scent seemed to lessen the burning and itching sensation that lingered under his skin.

He quickly regained his composure, raised his head, and looked at Lin Yi.

"What would be the price? Gold coins? A licensed trading right in the North? Or the clear ownership of certain disputed territories around Bloodclaw Keep?"

Lin Yi smiled and pointed to the viper, who was still kneeling on the ground and had lowered his head even further because of the Second Prince's appearance.

"Bloodclaw Keep has enough gold and territory for now. What I want is an ending for the 'employer' behind him."

Alex followed Lin Yi's finger and looked at the viper, his brows furrowing slightly, clearly guessing the other's identity.

"Dean August? He's really overreaching. You want me to get rid of him?"

He weighed the small crystal bottle in his hand, seemingly assessing whether the potion was valuable enough to buy the life of the Dean of the Imperial Alchemy Academy. (End of Chapter)